I have been using Blogger for my platform for over 3 years and I have taken the decision to migrate my blog and website over to WordPress.
Over the 3 years I have been using Blogger, Google does not seem to have kept the softeware up to date with developments in Open Source Software. Wordpress has overtaken Blogger in terms of market share and functionality. Blogger is definitely the poor relation and has been neglected.
2011 will be a crucial year for social media and SEO. Here’s my thoughts on what’s going to be hot or not split down into individual, companies and industry.
For Individuals
Personal Brand Online – people buy from people therefore more business individuals and leaders will grow their presence online to boost their business profile (more…)
The survey ran from 1st to 30th November 2010 and was answered by companies within the Yorkshire Region. The aim of the survey was to understand how different sized companies in Yorkshire are using social media in their business and what return on investment they see from the campaigns. Download PDF from slideshare
The main difference is how SME versus Large companies are using social media in their businesses. Smaller and medium businesses (1 – 49 employees) feel that social media has be responsible for creating or helping create sales or new business. LinkedIn is a more important business tool to small businesses which is reflected in the fact that more of the key people within a small business are promoting themselves on LinkedIn compared to a medium or large organisations. Whereas larger companies (50+ employees) are not promoting as much on LinkedIn, nor are their key people actively using LinkedIn.
Companies are using tools such as blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn more than video content (YouTube). Which makes sense as there is more investment required to creating a professional video compared to setting up a blog.
Companies overall are using social media to boost their PR activity with 75% respondents said social media had been responsible for creating positive PR about the company and 40% saying social media had helped mitigate any PR problems.
Companies are promoting their social media sites on their websites with 55% respondents are linking their social profiles online on the home page of their website and 30% saying they have a dedicated page on their site for ‘community’ aspects, which sign-post people to the various sites.
This research paints a picture that Yorkshire companies that are engaged with social media as a key business tool are finding social media helps create or contribute to finding new business. Companies are also using social media to boost their PR activities and feel that social media has helped mitigate PR problems.
Charlotte Britton, MD Optimum Exposure says ‘Social Media is becoming a core part of the marketing mix. Companies that are adopting the technologies and techniques are creating a competitive advantage for themselves as more people are using sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs. Companies need to understand the objectives and metrics for success before embarking on any activity, so they know what success looks like as the campaign grows’
What do you think? How do you use Social Media in your business?
Your overall rankings in the search engines are influenced by who’s connected to you in your circle of influence i.e. – twitter, blogs, links, comments etc…
What do I mean by this?
Last week I was preparing a presentation for the Leeds Business Network and I asked my husband to do a few searches. He searched for ‘What is online credibility’ in Google and I appeared in the top 10 (see screen shot). When I searched in Google when I wasn’t logged in and on a different IP, I didn’t come up at all. (more…)
Admittedly listening and monitoring is not the glamorous part and I know time is of essence on a lot of this (as the pace is so fast) but how can you be authentically participate in conversations if you haven’t planned out your responses or got the business processes supporting the campaign? (more…)
I was on the train last Wednesday coming back from the RSA Social Media Surgeries in Sheffield with Rob Greenland. (more…)
Gone are the days of the traditional web or creative agency
With the changes in the economy over the past 2 years and the accelerated changes in technology and internet it’s time for change. Traditional creative, development and web agencies face a change in the market. With people being made redundant and others growing increasing disillusioned with their current employers there is a seas of change. In my experience (from my own network of contacts) more people have gone freelance if they have left or been made redundant. (more…)
Last week I was on holiday in Scotland and on a rainy Thursday I decided to spend the morning on the WIFI catching up emails, blogs and twitter. It was Hull Digital week last week. There was an event on the Thursday 15th October that a lot of people I follow were tweeting about. So I happily kept reading the tweets whilst I slurped my coffee and visited the links that were being sent. (more…)
I was reviewing inbound links on a website as the webmaster had paid for some inbound links to be generated (alarm bells should have been ringing already). So I look at some of the links and found the next generation of inbound link spam. So after a rant, I then started looking for other next generation spam techniques the wondrous black hat people have come up with…..and what a can of worms that was. (more…)
Your online credibility is an increasingly important way of showcasing your specialised knowledge and expertise which will build your online credibility. As more people engage with the social web differentiating yourself become imperative
You can use either the email address or phone numbers to the left.